Persephone, Queen of the Underworld - Greeka.com Myths Persephone, Queen of the Underworld The story of Persephone, the sweet daughter of goddess Demeter who was kidnapped by Hades and later became the Queen of the Underworld, is known all over the world. It is actually the way of the ancient Greeks to explain the change of the seasons, the eternal cycle of the Nature's death and rebirth. Persephone is understood in people's mind as a naive little girl who flows between the protection of the mother and the love of her husband. The myth of Persephone was very popular in the ancient times and it is said that her story was represented in the Eleusinian Mysteries, the great private and secret celebrations of ancient Greece. Want to discover more myths? Discover the myth of Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld The abduction from Hades According to Greek Mythology, Persephone, the queen of the underworld, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility. She was also called Kore, which means "maiden" and grew up to be a lovely girl attracting the attention of many gods.

However, Demeter had an obsessed love for her only daughter and kept all men away from her. The most persisting suitor of Persephone was Hades, the god of the Underworld. He was a hard, middle-aged man, living in the dark, among the shadows of the Dead. But his heart softened when he saw Persephone and was amazed by his youth, beauty and freshness. When he asked Demeter to marry her daughter, Demeter got furious and said there wasn't the slightest chance for that to happen. Hades was heart-broken and decided to get Persephone no matter what. One day, while the young girl was playing and picking flowers along with her friends in a valley, she beheld the most enchanting narcissus she had ever seen. As she stooped down to pick the flower, the earth beneath her feet suddenly cleaved open and through the gap Hades himself came out on his chariot with black horses. Hades grabbed the lovely maiden before she could scream for help and descended into his underworld kingdom while the gap in the earth closed after them. Desperately looking for Persephone The other girls had not seen anything because everything happened very quickly.

They didn't have a clue for the sudden disappearance of Persephone. The whole incident, however, had been witnessed by Zeus, father of the maiden and brother of the abductor, as well as by Helios, god of the Sun. Zeus decided to keep silent about the whole thing to prevent a fight with his brother while Helios wisely thought it better not to get involved in anything that didn't concern him. A distraught and heartbroken Demeter wandered the earth looking for her daughter until her good friend Hecate, goddess of wilderness and childbirth, advised her to seek for the help of Helios, the all-seeing Sun god, in order to find her daughter. Helios felt sorry for Demeter, who was crying and pleading him to help her. Thus she revealed her that Persephone had been kidnapped by Hades. When she heard that, Demeter got angry and wanted to take revenge but Helios suggested that it was not such a bad thing for Persephone to be the wife of Hades and queen of the dead. Trying to find a solution Demeter, however, could not let it gone.

She was furious at this insult and deeply believed that Hades, who after all had only dead people for company, was not the right husband for her sweet daughter. She also got angry at Zeus for not having revealed this to her. To punish gods and to grief, Demeter decided to take a long and indefinite leave from her duties as the goddess of harvest and fertility, with devastating consequences. The earth began to dry up,harvests failed, plants lost their fruitfulness, animals were dying for lack of food and famine spread to the whole earth, resulting in untold misery. The cries of the people who were suffering reached Olympus and the divine ears of Zeus. The mighty god finally realized that if he wouldn't do something about his wife's wrath, all humanity would disappear. Thus he tried to find another solution to both calm Demeter and please Hades. He promised Demeter to restore Persephone to her if it can be proved that the maiden stays with Hades against her will. Otherwise, Persephone belongs to her husband. The final solution The crafty Hades learned this agreement and tricked his reluctant bride, who was crying all day and night from despair, to eat a few seeds of the pomegranate fruit.

This was the food of the Underworld and every time someone ate even a few seeds of this, then, after a while, he would miss life in the Underworld. When the gathering in front of Zeus took place and Persephone was asked where she would like to live, she answered she wanted to live with her husband. When Demeter heard that, she got infuriated and accused Hades that somehow he had tricked her daughter. A great fight followed and Demeter threatened that she would never again make the earth fertile and everyone on Earth would die. To put an ed on this quarrel, Zeus decided that Persephone would spend half months with her husband in Hades and half months with her mother on Olympus. This alternative pleased none of the two opponents, nevertheless that had no other option but accept it. The explanation of the myth Thus the lovely maiden Persephone became the rightful wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld. During the six months that Persephone spent in the Underworld, her mother was sad and not in the mood to deal with harvest. Thus she would leave the Earth to decline.

According to the ancient Greeks, these were the months of Autumn and Winter, when the land is not fertile and does not give crops. Whenever Persephone went to Olympus to live with her mother, Demeter would shine from happiness and the land would become fertile again and fruitful. These were the months of Spring and Summer. Therefore, this myth was created to explain the change of the seasons, the eternal cycle of the Nature's death and rebirth. Share it! Persephone - The Wife of Hades Persephone Previous Page The Daughter of Demeter and Zeus Persephone is the beautiful daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Persephone and Demeter are called the Holy Twain and usually worshipped together even though their divine duties are quite opposite from one another. Demeter is the goddess of the Harvest ... she is responsible for the nourishment of all life-giving plants that grow on the earth ... the wellbeing of every mortal is inextricably linked to Demeter and her blessings. Persephone is not a goddess of life and prosperity ... she is the queen of the dead ... the bride of Hades.

Persephone became Hades's bride completely against her will but she eventually accepted her fate and now spends one-third of each year in the House of Hades and the other two-thirds with her mother. This arrangement came about after Persephone had been kidnapped and Demeter's rage brought the world to the brink of destruction. Hades was smitten with love for stunning young Persephone and plotted with Zeus to have her as his wife. Hades did not woo Persephone in any type of traditional way ... he did not ask Demeter's permission but he did receive Zeus's help in underhandedly possessing the young Maid ... Hades abducted Persephone and took her to his Underworld kingdom against her will. While at play with several daughters of Okeanos [Ocean] as well as other goddesses, Persephone was picking flowers ... but these weren't earthly flowers ... these flowers were the work of Zeus and put there for "a girl with a flower's beauty." The flowers were there to ensnare Persephone in a trap, a beautiful, divine trap. The trigger for the trap was an irresistible flower with one hundred stems of fragrant blossoms.

When Persephone reached out with both hands to pluck the flower, the earth opened at her feet and Hades roared forth in his golden chariot and seized her before an alarm could be raised. The place where Hades emerged from the earth to take Persephone was on the island of Sicily near Syracuse. No mortal on the earth heard Persephone's cries for help before she vanished into the Underworld. Her goddess playmates were unaware of what had happened to Persephone and only two Immortals heard the faint cries of the abducted girl ... the Roaring Goddess Hekate and Helios [Sun]. Demeter became frantic when she realized that Persephone was missing ... she began an exhaustive search but all efforts were in vain. Her sorrow was so great that she denied herself food, drink, and comfort for nine days. When Eos [Dawn] took to the skies on the tenth day, Hekate came to Demeter and told her that she had heard a voice but had not actually seen the abduction of Persephone. The two goddesses went to Helios because he sees all mortal and Immortal actions. Helios, indeed, knew the plot and the players.

He told Demeter that the abduction was the work of Zeus and Hades. He further advised her to accept the situation because Hades was the Lord of Many and "not an unseemly bridegroom." Demeter did not like his advice and choose instead a long, brooding path to regain her precious daughter. In a strange act of revenge, Demeter, disguised as a mature woman, settled in the city of Eleusis and became the nanny of Demophoon, the infant son of King Keleos and Queen Metaneira. The boy was being raised to be noble and pure but Demeter seemed to be stealing the boy's affection and loyalty away from his parents ... just as her daughter had been stolen from her. One night she was caught transforming the young boy into an Immortal by placing him in the fireplace and cleansing him with fire but before Demeter [still in disguise] could make Demophoon immortal, Queen Metaneira recognized Demeter for the goddess she was and stopped the ceremony. When Demeter cast her disguise away and revealed her divinity, King Keleos and the other nobles of Eleusis were glad to oblige when Demeter demanded that a temple be built in her honor.

After it was completed, she retreated into the temple and her brooding took on a deadly turn. The following year, no seed sprouted on the earth ... no barley grew in the plowed fields ... the mortals of the earth were doomed to famine and eventual destruction if Demeter did not lift her curse. Zeus sent the goddess Iris to dissuade Demeter from her destructive course but Demeter was unmoved. In turn, Zeus sent a procession of Immortals to Demeter's temple to beg the goddess to change her mind and give life back to the earth. She refused them all. Persephone and Hades Zeus realized that he would have to negotiate a suitable agreement between Hades and Demeter before the earth became a barren wasteland. He sent Hermes to the House of Hades to speak with Hades and Persephone. He also sent Rheia, Demeter's mother, to Eleusis to offer Demeter honors if she would only return to Mount Olympos. Demeter was moved by her mother's plea and Zeus's promises ... she was open for some sort of compromise.

Hades agreed to allow Persephone to return to her mother but before Persephone left the Underworld, Hades gave her a pomegranate seed to eat. By doing this he bound her to himself and his kingdom. When Demeter found out about the trickery she was angry but she was also resigned to the fact that there was nothing she could do ... her loving daughter was bound to the lord of the dead forever. With no alternative, it was agreed that Persephone would spend part of the year with her husband and part of the year in the sunlight with her mother. When Persephone is with Hades the earth is wracked by the sorrow of Demeter but when Persephone returns from the House of Hades to walk the earth again, Demeter pours forth the blessings of Spring to welcome her beloved daughter home. The Eleusinian Mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries were established to celebrate the return of Persephone to Demeter from the Underworld. The festival of the Greater Mysteries was celebrated at the city of Eleusis which is 15 miles [24 kilometers] northwest of Athens.

The ceremonies and procession for the sacred event began in Athens on the fifteenth day of Boedromion [approximately the second week of September by our calendar] and lasted from seven to nine days. The Eleusinian Mysteries included the worship of Demeter, Persephone and Iakchos as Bacchus [a.k.a. Dionysos, god of Wine]. Most of the ceremonies were public but only initiates were allowed to participate in the final rituals. The rites are called Mysteries because the Greek word Mystes [Μύστῑς] means One Initiated. Persephone and Demeter as The Holy Twain. There were several stages of initiation. The rites of the Lesser Mysteries were held in the spring and dedicated to Persephone. The Lesser Mysteries involved the ritual purification of the candidates for initiation. The Greater Mysteries were held in the fall and dedicated to Demeter. The initiates were called Epoptes, i.e. One Who Has Seen. The only Greek citizens who were excluded from the ceremonies were people with Blood Guilt, i.e. those who had killed. Men, women and slaves were allowed to take part in the ceremonies.

All Greek cities honored the sanctity of the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries by instituting a truce that would temporarily halt wars and conflicts. This would allow participants to travel to and from Athens and Eleusis without worrying about local and national disputes. The rituals of the Greater Mysteries were scrupulously guarded and all sincere initiates honored the secrets of the ceremonies ... ancient writers who dared to expound on the subject were probably not initiates and were just guessing as to the actual rites performed at Eleusis. The rites performed in Athens were called the City Eleusinion ... this ceremony was public and conducted at the temple for Demeter and Persephone located between the Acropolis and the Agora. In preparation for the procession to Eleusis, sacred ritual objects were brought from the temple at Eleusis and stored in the Eleusinion. After a ritual cleansing and purification, participants would gather at the Sacred Gates near the Kerameikos cemetery and then walk from Athens to Eleusis on what was called the Sacred Way.

The priests and priestesses of Demeter would lead the procession carrying a wooden statue of Iakchos and other sacred objects hidden in wooden boxes destined for the Telesterion in Eleusis where the final and most secret rites were performed. The members of the procession chanted the name of Iakchos as they walked and would stop briefly at shrines of Apollon and Aphrodite along the road. Masked men were stationed along the Sacred Way to insult the participants in order to humble them before they reached Eleusis. Upon reaching Eleusis, the participants would fast until the following morning. The initiates were then permitted to enter the Telesterion where the sacred objects were revealed. All that the initiates were permitted to say about the ceremonies was that things were spoken, seen and performed. Once the final rites were complete, a night of feasting and revelry began. A bull was sacrificed and libations were poured honoring the dead. The Underworld Persephone and Hades preside over the dead in the Underworld.

There are purported to have been several entrances to the Underworld but the only hint as to its location is that it is near the dwelling of Nyx [Night] which is assumed to be somewhere in the "east." At the entrance to Hades's echoing halls, the ever vigilant, three-headed dog Kerberos stands guard. As fierce as he seems, he does not prevent anyone from entering the House of Hades ... in fact, he fawns and wags his tail to welcome those who enter. His real countenance comes forth when someone tries to leave the Underworld without Lord Hades's permission. Persephone reigns over the dead souls of the Underworld in a way that compliments Hades's ultimate authority. When the seer Tiresias died, Persephone granted him wisdom and everlasting vision while the remainder of the dead souls were doomed to be nothing but "empty, flitting shades." Her supervision of the "shades" that were allowed to speak to Odysseus when he was at the entrance to the Underworld was readily apparent ... it seemed to Odysseus that Persephone controlled the dead with absolute fear ... she drove the masses of souls to and fro ...

their mournful cries chilled Odysseus's blood ... he finally fled in terror because he felt sure that Persephone would send some hideous Gorgon's head after him. Hagne, the Holy One As dark and foreboding as Persephone might seem, she also has genuine sympathy for the dead souls she supervises. There are three instances that deserve mentioning: Orpheus and Eurydike When Eurydike died, her husband Orpheus was so grieved and distracted by his loss, he decided to go to the Underworld to retrieve his beloved wife. Orpheus was without doubt, the greatest musician who ever lived ... he could charm any living thing with his music. When he reached the Underworld, he played his lyre for Persephone and she was enchanted ... she persuaded the reluctant Hades to release Eurydike and allow her to go back to the land of the living. Hades placed one condition on Eurydike's freedom ... he told Orpheus that he must walk ahead of Eurydike and not look back to see if she was following him ... if he looked back, Eurydike would have to return to the Underworld.

Eurydike left the House of Hades and began to follow Orpheus back to the surface of the earth. Orpheus tried to resist the urge to look back but his doubt overcame his faith ... he turned around and saw Eurydike behind him ... to his horror, her body, which was beginning to substantialize, evaporated and Eurydike was returned into the House of Hades as a phantom. Sthenelos Herakles led an army against the Amazons as his Ninth Labor, Retrieving the Belt of Hippolyte ... Sthenelos was part of that army. During the battle with the Amazons, Sthenelos was killed ... Herakles buried Sthenelos on the shores of the Euxine [Black Sea]. On their Quest for the Golden Fleece, Jason and the Argonauts sailed past the tomb of Sthenelos ... when they paused to honor the fallen hero, Persephone allowed Sthenelos to rise from his barrow and look upon the Argonauts and their ship because he had once been such a soldier and sailed in such a ship. Pindar The importance of Pindar as a poet cannot be overstressed ...

he was a man of far reaching fame and afforded genuine respect by all Greeks. When Alexander the Great destroyed the city of Thebes in 335 BCE, Pindar had been dead for one hundred years. Because Pindar had been a Theban, Alexander gave specific instructions that no relative of Pindar was to be harmed nor their property damaged. Ten days before Pindar died he had a dream sent by Persephone ... she scolded the poet for never composing an ode for her ... in the dream, she told him that when he came to her in the Underworld, he would honor her with one of his poems ... he died within ten days after having the dream. After his death, an old woman who was related to Pindar had a dream ... in the dream Pindar stood beside her and sang a song for Persephone ... the woman wrote down the song which contained a clear reference to the goddess. Persephone and Timoleon For those of you who mistakenly believe that Persephone is somehow "mythological" or imaginary, the case of Timoleon and the invasion of Sicily should serve to dissuade you of such naïve notions.

The historian Diodorus Siculus relates an interesting story concerning the intervention of Persephone and Demeter with the future of Sicily. Circa 337 BCE, the Athenians mounted an invasion of Sicily to oust the tyrant Dionysius II. A man named Timoleon was selected to lead an army against Dionysius but the number of troops at his disposal was barely adequate to do the job. Before Timoleon sailed for Sicily, he stopped in Corinth to consult the priestesses of Demeter and Persephone and seek their blessings. The priestesses told him that the goddesses had told them of his coming and that they had received favorable dreams during the night concerning him and his expedition to Sicily ... the priestesses informed Timoleon that the goddesses would guide and protect him to insure his victory over Dionysius as well as the Carthaginians on Sicily. As if on cue, a blazing torch appeared in the western sky indicating Timoleon's route to Sicily ... he and his men had no doubt that the goddesses would give them a victory even though they were greatly outnumbered. The blazing torch remained visible until the fleet reached Sicily.

The fighting was fierce but Timoleon was victorious on land and sea. The island of Sicily has always been sacred to Demeter and Persephone ... it's no wonder that the goddesses would lend their protection to Timoleon ... he was a pious man trying to free the islanders from an indulgent tyrant ... the Holy Twain approved of the man and his quest. This event was witnessed by nearly a thousand individuals ... the only element of this story that is disputed is whether one of Timoleon's ships was named The Sacred Ship of Demeter and Persephone before or after his visit to the temple of the goddesses. Persephone and Hades Persephone | Greek Mythology Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia This box: view • talk • edit Persephone was the goddess of spring, flowers and the seasons. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and the wife of Hades, which made her the Queen of the Underworld. She was the personification of the earth's fruitfulness. Persephone as a vegetation goddess and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon, and promised to the initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death.

The mystic Persephone is further said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, or Zagreus. The origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on very old agrarian cults of agricultural communities. Apollodorus, in his list of Zeus' divine children, curiously calls Persephone a daughter of Zeus and Styx. Elsewhere he gives the usual account where her mother is Demeter. Persephone was commonly worshipped along with Demeter, and with the same mysteries. To her alone were dedicated the mysteries celebrated at Athens in the month of Anthesterion. In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed; often carrying a sheaf of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a scepter and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the act of being carried off by Hades. Her Roman counterpart was called Prosperina.

Contents Edit In a Linear B (Mycenean Greek) inscription on a tablet found at Pylos dated 1400–1200 BC, John Chadwick reconstructs the name of a goddess *Preswa who could be identified with Persa, daughter of Oceanus and finds speculative the further identification with the first element of Persephone. Persephonē (Greek: Περσεφόνη) is her name in the Ionic Greek of epic literature. The Homeric form of her name is Persephoneia (Περσεφονεία, Persephoneia). In other dialects she was known under variant names: Persephassa (Περσεφάσσα), Persephatta (Περσεφάττα), or simply Korē (Κόρη, "girl, maiden"). Plato calls her Pherepapha (Φερέπαφα) in his Cratylus, "because she is wise and touches that which is in motion".

There are also the forms Periphona (Πηριφόνα) and Phersephassa (Φερσέφασσα). The existence of so many different forms shows how difficult it was for the Greeks to pronounce the word in their own language and suggests that the name has probably a pre-Greek origin. An alternative etymology is from φέρειν φόνον, pherein phonon, "to bring (or cause) death". Another mythical personage of the name of Persephione is called a daughter of Minyas and the mother of Chloris, a nymph of spring, flower and new growth. The Minyans were a group considered autochthonous, but some scholars assert that they were the first wave of Proto-Greek speakers in the second milemnium BC. Ephithets Edit The epithets of Persephone reveal her double function as chthonic and vegetation goddess. The surnames given to her by the poets refer to her character as Queen of the lower world and the dead, or her symbolic meaning of the power that shoots forth and withdraws into the earth.

Her common name as a vegetation goddess is Kore and in Arcadia she was worshipped under the title Despoina "the mistress", a very old chthonic divinity. Plutarch identifies her with spring and Cicero calls her the seed of the fruits of the fields. In the Eleusinian mysteries her return is the symbol of immortality and hence she was frequently represented on sarcophagi. In the mystical theories of the Orphics and the Platonists, Kore is described as the all-pervading goddess of nature who both produces and destroys everything and she is therefore mentioned along or identified with other mystic divinities such as Isis, Rhea, Ge, Hestia, Pandora, Artemis, and Hecate. The mystic Persephone is further said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, or Zagreus. As a goddess of the underworld, Persephone was given euphemistically friendly names. However it is possible that some of them were the names of original goddesses: Despoina Hagne, "pure", originally a goddess of the springs in Messenia.

Melindia or Melinoia (meli, "honey"), as the consort of Hades, in Hermione. *(Compare Hecate, Melinoe) Melivia Edit Persephone's uncle, Hades, was lonely, and wanted a wife. He spied Persephone in the fields one day, and, entranced by her purity and beauty, fell in love with her at first sight. Persephone was innocently picking flowers with some nymphs in a field in Enna when Hades came to abduct her, bursting through a cleft in the earth. Later, the nymphs were changed by Demeter into the Sirens for not having interfered. Life came to a standstill as the devastated Demeter, goddess of harvest, searched everywhere for her lost daughter. Hecate, minor goddess of magic, then told Demeter she had heard Persephone scream that she was being kidnapped. Demeter then stopped caring for the Earth, and the land didn't flourish and people began to starve and die. Hades was determined to make Persephone love him, and tried in many ways.

She hated him at first for snatching her away from her mother, but soon she came to revel in Demeter's absence as she had never been allowed away from her mother before. Hades very much wanted Persephone's love and, at first, tried to buy it with many gifts. But then he took to spending all of his day with his new wife, working to make her happy. Hecate, the Goddess of Magic, came down to the Underworld and befriended Persephone, and Hades was pleased, because Persephone was not depressed or unhappy when her friend was around. When Demeter and her daughter were united, the Earth flourished with vegetation and colour, but for six months each year, when Persephone returned to the Underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm: and that is how the seasons came from. In Spring and Summer, Persephone and her mother are together. In Fall and Winter, Persephone goes back with Hades. This is the myth to explain the weather changes in Fall and Winter compared with Spring and Summer. Imagery Edit Persephone was usually depicted as a young goddess holding sheafs of grain and a flaming torch.

Sometimes she was shown in the company of her mother Demeter, and the hero Triptolemos, the teacher of agriculture. At other times she appears enthroned beside Hades. Demeter Demeter See More Demeter Pictures > Demeter was the goddess of corn, grain, and the harvest. She was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea . It was believed that Demeter made the crops grow each year; thus the first loaf of bread made from the annual harvest was offered to her. She was the goddess of the earth, of agriculture, and of fertility in general. Sacred to her are livestock and agricultural products, poppy, narcissus and the crane. Demeter was intimately associated with the seasons. Her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades to be his wife in the underworld . In her anger at her daughter's loss, Demeter laid a curse on the world that caused plants to wither and die, and the land to become desolate. Zeus , alarmed for the barren earth, sought for Persephone 's return. However, because she had eaten while in the underworld , Hades had a claim on her. Therefore, it was decreed that Persephone would spend four months each year in the underworld .

During these months Demeter would grieve for her daughter's absence, withdrawing her gifts from the world, creating winter. Her return brought the spring. Demeter was also known for founding the Eleusinian Mysteries. These were huge festivals held every five years and very important events for many centuries. Yet, little is known about them as those attending were sworn to secrecy. It is thought that the central tenet around which the Mysteries revolved was that just like grain returns every spring after its harvest and the winter lull, so does the human soul after the death of the body, reincarnated in a next life. Demeter Is also called Ceres, Sito, Thesmophoros. Persephone | Greek goddess | Britannica.com Greek goddess Aphrodite Persephone, Latin Proserpina, orProserpine, in Greek religion , daughter of Zeus , the chief god, and Demeter , the goddess of agriculture; she was the wife of Hades, king of the underworld. In the Homeric “Hymn to Demeter,” the story is told of how Persephone was gathering flowers in the Vale of Nysa when she was seized by Hades and removed to the underworld.

Upon learning of the abduction, her mother, Demeter, in her misery, became unconcerned with the harvest or the fruitfulness of the Earth , so that widespread famine ensued. Zeus therefore intervened, commanding Hades to release Persephone to her mother. Because Persephone had eaten a single pomegranate seed in the underworld, she could not be completely freed but had to remain one-third of the year with Hades, spending the other two-thirds with her mother. The story that Persephone spent four months of each year in the underworld was no doubt meant to account for the barren appearance of Greek fields in full summer (after harvest), before their revival in the autumn rains, when they are plowed and sown. Pluto and Proserpina, marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, … Anderson—Alinari/Art Resource, New York Learn More in these related articles: Homeric Hymns collection of 34 ancient Greek poems in heroic hexameters, all addressed to gods. Though ascribed in antiquity to Homer, the poems actually differ widely in date and are of unknown authorship. Most end with an indication that the singer intends to begin another song, therefore suggesting the...

Hades (Greek mythology) in Greek religion, son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of the deities Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia. After Cronus was overthrown by his sons, his kingdom was divided among them, and the underworld fell by lot to Hades. There he ruled with his queen, Persephone, over the... 10 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted Reference Eleusinian Mysteries (in Eleusinian Mysteries ) (in mystery religion: Eleusinian ) relationship to Persephone - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, the chief god, and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. Against her will, she became the wife of Hades, the god of the underworld, which was the underground realm of the dead. The Romans called her Proserpina. Article History Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles.

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Close Date Published: July 20, 1998 URL: Access Date: January 19, 2017 Share 1000+ images about Hades & Persephone on Pinterest | Pomegranates, Hades and persephone and Underworld Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Hades & Persephone Hades, meaning "the unseen"was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. In Greek mythology, Hades is the oldest male child of Cronus and Rhea. In Greek mythology, Persephone, also called Kore ("the maiden") is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld. (Wikipedia) 74 Pins197 Followers 1000+ images about Persephone. on Pinterest | Hades and persephone, Modern art deco and Underworld Forward Persephone: Daughter of Zeus and the harvest goddess Demeter, Persephone was gathering flowers when Hades came to abduct her, bursting through a cleft in the earth. Tricked into swallowing pomegranate seeds and thus having tasted food of the Underworld, Persephone must spend a third of each year in her husband’s embrace.

Once a virginal vegetation goddess, she is now the formidable, majestic Queen of the Underworld, who executes the curses of men upon the souls of the dead. See More Myth of Persephone The Myth of Persephone Persephone was the only daughter of Demeter , the goddess of grain, agriculture and fertility. Unfortunately for her, Hades ,the ruler of the Underworld, had dreadful plans for her: He would steal her innocence and virginity and turn her into his dreaded queen. The abduction Hades abducts Persephone Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone and wanted her as his bride. Despite his brother Zeus's reservations when he sought his approval, he decided to abduct her. Zeus was concerned about the reaction of her mother Demeter, who would certainly would not consent to the prospect of her beloved daughter becoming queen of the Underworld. The abduction of the innocent maiden was quite spectacular: She was gathering flowers in a plain somewher in Sicily, when Hades suddenly appeared, thundering across the plain in his four-horse chariot.

Before any of the girl's companions realized what was happening, the god swooped down swiftly and snatched the poor girl from her arm. Despite her screaming and pleas, no one else could hear her. The earth opened up before Hades's chariot and the powerful horses drove down into the chasm. As they both disappeared into the dark depths, the hole closed up behind them. Demeter's desperate search for her daughter A Renaissance painting depicting the abduction of Persephone When Demeter came to collect Persephone, she soon realized that no trace of her could be found. Distraught and desperate, she searched high and low for her daughter. She traveled to the farthest corners of the earth, searching for nine full days and nights without ever stopping to eat, drink, bathe, or rest. As she was roaming the lands, she destroyed crops and livestocks, threatening to make the earth barren for ever and thus destroy all of humankind, in case she would not find her daughter. Finally, on the tenth day, goddess Hecate told the grief stricken mother that Persephone had been carried away, but she did not know the identity of her abductor.

To find the answer as to who was the culprit, Demeter went to god Helius, who saw everything that happened on the face of the earth. Helius indeed told her what happened, but, on the other hand, he tried to convince her that Hades would not be an unfit husband for her daughter. Enraged to find out about the truth, Demeter remained relentless in her pursuit, horrified at the prospect of Hades taking away her daughter. Realizing that Zeus was a possible accomplice in the abduction, she refused to return to Olympus. Instead, she roamed the earth in the guise of a mortal, forbidding the trees to bear fruit and the earth to nurture vegetable and fruit. A full year passed by and Zeus became restless that, if he let Demeter persisit in her pursuit, all humankind would starve to death. So, he decided to send to her all the gods and goddesses of Olympus to beg her change her mind. After he realized that all his efforts were made in vain, the almighty ruler of Olympus promised to Demeter that he himself would make sure that Persephone would return to her.

A deal is struck Persephone eating the pomegranate God Hermes , summoned by Zeus, raced down to Hades to fetch Persephone. Hades immediately complied, but before he let the girl go, he urged her to eat a pomegranate seed. Alas, this apparent act of kindness was in reality a devious trick: Anyone who tastes the food of Hades, must remain in the Underworld! The deed having been done, Rhea, the mother of Zeus, Demeter and Hades, proposed a compromise which her children accepted: Persephone would have to stay with Hades in the Underworld for six months each year. The rest of the year, she would be allowed to ascend to earth to stay with her mother. After agreeing with the deal, Demeter restored earth's fertility and returned to Olympus with her daughter. But, when the time came that mother and daughter would part, the earth became colder and less fertile, until the maiden's reemergence six months later. The cycle of Persephone's descent to the Underworld and her subsequent ascension to earth, signify the progression of seasons, Fall and Winter succeeded by Spring and Summer. In the Fall, seeds were buried underground.

But in the Spring, crops come out into the sun once more. Queen of the Underworld Persephone leaving her mother Demeter to enter the Underworld Although she spent only half of her life in the Underworld, little is known about Persephone's life above ground after her abduction. Below ground, however, she was dreaded forever afterwards as the goddess of the Underworld. So feared was she, that mortals often invoked her name in curses. The Queen of the Underworld had no children by Hades, but remained faithful to her. On the other hand, when he tried to have extramarital affairs, she made sure that her adversary would be punished. Such was the case, when her husband tried to seduce Minthe, who was a nymph: She reacted by turning her husband's potential lover into a fragrant mint plant! Similarly, she turned the nymph Leuce into a white poplar tree, when Hades again tried his charms on her.

Question: In Greek mythology who was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter who became the wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld?
Answer: Persephone